A Fairton man missed being sent to jail by a "narrow margin" on Monday when he appeared in court on drug, theft and driving charges.

Mark James van Duinen, 41, was caught driving while suspended for the seventh time when he decided to get KFC in Ashburton on May 11.

The police noticed him driving on West Street at 5.55pm without the car headlights on.

He pleaded guilty when he appeared before Judge Dominic Dravitzki in the Ashburton District Court.

Van Duinen was also due for sentencing for stealing two water tanks and a dairy shed washdown hose from a rural Rakaia property between December 17 and 18 last year.

When police visited his home to execute a search warrant after the thefts on December 20, they found cannabis plants and oil and charged him with the possession of cannabis and cultivating cannabis.

Van Duinen also faced charges of driving while suspended, speeding and careless driving.

Judge Drevitzki said van Duinen was driving on State Highway One near Dunsandel on December 19. Just after midday he crossed the centreline into the path on an oncoming truck and trailer.

The truck swerved but van Duinen scraped the side of the trailer and damaged his car before he regained control.

He told police he thought he might have fallen asleep - and was charged with driving while suspended and careless driving.

Less than a month later, he was picked on a police speed radar travelling 111kmh in a 50kmh zone in Christchurch.

Lawyer Jennifer North said van Duinen had moved down from Marlborough in the hopes of going into a business venture.

The business venture had not worked out well and van Duinen had made some "stupid decisions" on the way.

North said van Duinen had two pre-sentence reports that recommended home detention.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Stuart Whyte said van Duinen's offending had moved "from the realms of home detention to one of a prison sentence".

Judge Dravitzki said van Duinen had been in jail for a long time in the past and was "heading back there".

"He seems to keep driving when he feels like it, and sometimes poorly, and putting other people at risk."

He was remanded in custody while the judge considered the "closely weighted decision" over the lunch break.

Van Duinen was back in the dock at 3.40pm.

Judge Dravitzki said he regarded the burglary as serious, while the cannabis cultivation was of moderate seriousness - and that van Duinen had a background with a significant amount of offending and convictions.

This included a 4-plus-year jail sentence for supplying meth and cannabis and two charges or burglary in 2014 along with earlier drug offending a history of dangerous driving and driving while suspended.

Dravitzki said tovan Duinen's credit the last 10 years had been a "slowing down in what was a pretty prolific offending history".

The judge said it sounded like van Duinen was trying to make changes and he was able to to "stop just short of a prison sentence".

Van Duinen  was sentenced to nine months and two weeks' home detention with judicial monitoring.

Judge Dravitzki said van Duinen had avoided a prison sentence by a "narrow margin" and any further offending would likely see him behind bars.

He also disqualified Van Duinen for 18 months, which will start from July 3 - the day after his current disqualification.

By Sharon Davis